Kaito is using the sleep; Haruto wanted to watch the fireworks on TV but Kaito passed out about two hours ago and now he’s sleeping with his head on Mizael’s lap and Mizael is just kinda absently playing with his hair while Haruto claps and cheers at the festivities on the tv
Judai, Johan, and Yubel are watching variety shows, Johan made Too Much Udon and Yubel is eating most of it. Judai’s drifting off already and Johan and Yubel have decided that if he falls asleep they are mutually going to ignore any of his sleepy protests and drag him off to bed to cuddle
Alit is getting really REALLY hyped and he didn’t know that Vector spiked the punch so he is super drunk. He’s been flirting with Kotori all night which is fine because they are totally already dating but he asked if she was single and then cried when she said she wasn’t. Kotori took pity on him and let him fall asleep with his head in her lap.
It wasn’t until that day that I found them both in my arms -- their small, fragile, breakable human bodies, fragile creatures that I myself had once thrown against the ground and shattered, once, a long time ago -- that I knew. I never wanted either of them to break again. I’d once devoted myself to protecting only him. But now...it was both of them that I wanted to protect.
It was both of them that I wanted to be here, in my arms, for as long as I could.
“So this is...a variety show.” She seems uncertain, but her eyes don’t peel away from the screen. She hasn’t touched her udon yet; though wither it’s for lack of interest in trying the human food, or for the distraction of the television, is uncertain.
“Yeah, this isn’t the best one I’ve seen though,” Johan says. “What do you think, Judai?”
“Mmph,” Judai says. “Yeah. I’ve seen better.” He doesn’t take his eyes away from the television either, though. For better or worse, the colors are mesmerizing. Or maybe he’s just tired.
“Hm,” Yubel says, thoughtful. “It seems...fun.”
She takes a sip of the udon broth and nods faintly.
Summary: This is Johan’s absolute favorite part of Christmas, so what if they were a little late with putting up the lights? He didn’t mind waiting for them to come home first.
At first, Judai thought that they must have come to the wrong house.
“This is...his house, right?”
“It's the same address and color,” Yubel confirmed.
Judai shifted his bag on his shoulder, frowning at it. There was a light on inside, but not a single Christmas light hung from the roof. There wasn't a single decoration glowing in the dark, and come to think of it, wasn't Johan's Christmas tree right at the window usually? He should be able to see the Christmas lights from it glowing through the curtain.
He glanced at the spiritual projection of Yubel, feeling a little...uncertain. She just shrugged at him.
“Go on. He's expecting us, you know—has been for about a week or two.”
Judai grimaced. He hadn't expected it to take him so long to get here. He had gotten distracted on at least four adventures on the way here and being dimensional jumping type of adventures, they had lost more time than he had hoped. Johan was used to him being late, but during Christmas...? Johan loved Christmas, and Judai tried to make sure he was here as early as possible. As it was, it was the day before Christmas Eve and he was just now arriving.
And the house wasn't even decorated this close to Christmas—Johan was a master of decoration and he always decked the whole place out. Judai hoped everything was all right...
He pulled his bag higher on his shoulder, and headed towards the house.
There was a wreath on the door, at least, so that was something. And it looked like most of Johan's light up decorations like the reindeer and sleigh were already on the lawn, they just weren't turned on. Judai really, really hoped everything was all right.
He knocked once inside the wreath, and then stepped back from the door, shuffling his feet on the welcome mat.
He immediately heard the pounding of feet in the hallway. The door burst open, and Johan appeared, outlined in the backlight like some kind of silhouetted angel.
Before Judai could say anything, Johan was jumping through the door and throwing his arms around Judai.
“You guys are here!” he said, his voice bright with excitement. “Man, I was starting to worry about you!! I'm sure there's a story about it, huh? Come in, come in, come on, it's cold out here!”
He grabbed Judai's hand and dragged him through the door. Judai could hear Yubel chuckling, and he knew she was thinking about how he hadn't been eating or sleeping right in the past few weeks, and now that they were here, Johan was sure to force him to do both. Yubel loved staying at Johan's place. Because you finally start taking care of yourself, she always said. That's why I said we should just live here. Or at least bring Johan with us.
But Judai didn't want to impose on Johan, or drag him along from dimension to dimension again...his friend had had to deal with enough shit from him.
Johan dragged Judai inside and then closed the door.
“Man, it's cold! And oh, god, look at you, your coat's not nearly warm enough! Come on, I'll put some tea on—or do you want some hot chocolate? There's some extra blankets on the couch, go grab one, your hands are freezing!”
As always, coming back into Johan's warm, homey house, with its warm yellow lighting and wooden floors and worn couch, felt for a moment like Judai was walking into a dream. He almost pinched himself to remember that he was awake, but resisted the urge. Yubel, however, had felt that urge, and for a moment, she tightened her presence around him reassuringly. This is real, was the quiet reassurance. You're awake.
Judai smiled at her gratefully.
Johan whisked Judai's bag away with a brief exclamation at how heavy it was and didn't Judai know that carrying a one shoulder strap bag this heavy was going to hurt his back? In a fluid motion, he had the top open so that Pharaoh could crawl out, and the cat was sauntering after Johan into the kitchen. The young man set immediately to work bustling around the kitchen, his shoes squeaking and his hum twisting up towards the ceiling. Already Judai could hear tea bubbling on the stove and he wondered if Johan had somehow sensed that they would be here tonight at this moment. Wouldn't be the first time; Johan seemed to have a knack for guessing just when Judai would arrive.
Winged Kuriboh appeared at Judai's side with a squeak of delight and zipped off, meeting Ruby Carbuncle hopping down the front stairs. Ruby immediately leaped up to bat at Winged Kuriboh's wings, and the pair shot off chasing each other.
Judai remained awkwardly standing in the entry way for a moment, as always, feeling just a tad out of place when he arrived for the first time. After a beat, Amethyst Cat appeared on the couch with a yawn.
“Ahh, Judai! You're home,” she purred, sitting up and stretching. “Good to see you.”
“Good to see you too, Amethyst,” Judai said, smiling. It was always good to see the Crystal Beasts. Now that Amethyst had appeared, he noticed the other spirits hanging around—Emerald Turtle was tucked into his shell at the foot of the couch, Amber Mammoth was sitting at the far end of the room with Cobalt Eagle on his back. Judging by the faint, ghostly sound of hooves and claws, Sapphire Pegasus and Topaz Tiger must be in the kitchen with Johan.
Emerald Turtle let out an echoey yawn from inside his shell.
“Hello again, Judai-kun...kept us waiting a bit, didn't you? Come in and sit down, you know this is as much your home as it is ours. You too, Yubel-kun.”
Judai ducked his head sheepishly and walked into the room. He glanced at Yubel and they exchanged a brief communication silently before he tapped the pendant around his neck, and Yubel popped into physical form. As always, Judai felt a slight draining, like a pool of water emptying out from inside of him.
Yubel settled with a sigh onto her own feet, stretching her wings for a moment. Then she took Judai's hand and pulled him over to the couch, pushing him down into a sitting position and dragging the blanket around him.
“Johan's right, you know...you're freezing,” she said.
“What about you? You're not wearing a coat either,” Judai mumbled into the blanket, although he didn't reject the warmth and did in fact pull the incredibly soft fabric tighter around him.
“Don't feel it. Perks of being basically half dragon.”
“Must be nice.”
Johan reappeared from the kitchen with a wide smile on his face, juggling a tray with three mugs on it in one hand and a small dish in the other. Judging by the way Pharaoh was staring at it as he followed at Johan's heels, it was probably a saucer for the cat.
“Yubel!” Johan said, eyes brightening. He set the saucer down for Pharaoh and the tray on an end table, then he and Yubel met in front of Judai for a brief, tight hug, one that involved Yubel wrapping her wings around him completely for a moment in an instinctive protective gesture.
“It's so good to see you,” Johan said, drawing away. “Both of you.”
“I'm sorry we were so late,” Yubel said. “Things came up.”
“I'll want to hear all about it,” Johan said with a laugh. “Are you guys hungry?”
Judai opened his mouth, but then hesitated, even as Johan was passing him a warm mug of green tea.
“Um, Johan...” he said. “Sorry, but I was just wondering—what happened to your Christmas lights?”
Johan blinked in the middle of offering a mug to Yubel, which she took out of politeness although she generally didn't need to eat or drink. She pretended she didn't like it, but privately Judai knew just how much she enjoyed tasting things.
“Oh! Well, I was thinking that we should put them up together,” Johan said. “I mean, we have every year since the first year you guys spent Christmas with me. So I waited.”
“You waited this long for us to do that?” Judai said, incredulous. “Johan....we didn't mean for you to wait...I—”
Johan held up a hand.
“No sorrys,” he said. “I'm sure whatever you were doing was important.”
He smiled.
“And waiting's not an issue, Judai. It never is. This is a special thing...putting all the lights up together. I mean...it feels right. Doesn't it?”
Judai looked down at his mug of tea, watching the liquid ripple across the thin surface.
Putting lights up, all three of them...lights that would glow in the darkness and give a sparkle of cheer to the shadows. He had to smile.
Yeah...yeah it was right. All of them together, putting lights up in the darkness. The way that...
Judai looked up at them, at Yubel and Johan, the way that Yubel's face lit up when she smiled at Johan or Judai, so different and so much softer than the way she had used to smile when he had first met her, the way that Johan's eyes sparkled at both of them and the way he bustled and fussed over them, the memory of both of their hands entwined in his in a tight reassurance. The feeling of warmth, support, stability that each one of them gave him.
“Yeah,” Judai said, setting down his mug and standing up. “That really is an important thing to do together, isn't it?”
Johan blinked at him.
“Oh, we don't have to do that now, Judai! You two just got here, you should warm up a bit first!”
“Nah, might as well get cold once more before getting warm for good, right?” Judai said. “Your house looks so much more festive with the lights...I'd like to help you get them up.”
“Me too,” Yubel said. “Your house needs all of the light, you know?”
Johan looked between them. Then he smiled.
They headed out into the cold together. They didn't need to get out Johan's stepladder, because Yubel just had to hover up there and they passed the strings to her, lining them up along the roof. It took them about fifteen minutes working together to string the lights all along the roof and around the posts, and then Johan grinned at both of them, ready to plug it in.
“Ready?” he said.
“Go for it,” Judai said.
Johan pushed the plug into place. The entire house lit up.
Judai heard Yubel sigh softly. It was a sound that he could agree with. A relaxing of his muscles, a deep sigh of contentment that came from somewhere deep within his soul. The lights outlined the edges of the house, glowing in the dark, little balls of red and green and white and blue and purple. The reindeer light up frames in the front yard were on now too, letting their soft white light scatter glitters across the snow.
They stood for a moment in the cold, close together, almost shoulder to shoulder, looking at the light glowing in the deep darkness.
Judai slid his hands in Yubel's and Johan's, and Yubel's wings pulled around all three of them, and Johan leaned into Judai's shoulder with a sigh, his free hand gripping the point of Yubel's wing in place of her hand.
“You two are my light,” Judai mumbled.
Yubel snorted.
“That was so cheesy,” she said.
“Yeah,” Johan said with a soft laugh. “I liked it.”
Yubel leaned her head on top of Judai's for a moment and sighed.
“I did too,” she whispered.
Judai had to smile, and then he closed his eyes. Just imprinting the sight of the lights on his eyelids, and feeling of their bodies pressed against him in his heart.
